The government has signed a contract with a private company to set up a 3 MW hybrid power plant--a combination of solar, battery and diesel-run generator--at southern Monpura Island in the Bay of Bengal.
As per the contract signed on Monday, Western Monpura Solar Power Limited (WMSPL) will set up the power plant from which the state-owned West Zone Power Distribution Company Limited (WZPDC) will purchase electricity over the period of 20 years.
The power will be supplied to consumers in Monpura, an island of about 77,000 inhabitants living in an area of 373 square km in Bhola district.
Nirodh Chandra Mondal, joint secretary of the Power Division, Md Alamgir Kabir, secretary of the WZPDC and Bashir Ahmed, managing director of the WMSPL signed the implementation agreement (IA) and power purchase agreement (PPA) on behalf of the respective sides at a function at Biduyt Bhaban in the city.
Power Division officials said the hybrid plant will generate at least 30,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per day to serve about 20,483 consumers.
The consumers at Monpura will get electricity from the plant at the same rate, fixed by the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) for consumers in other areas, said the Power Division in a press release.
As a result, the electricity in Monpura will play a role for the improvement of life and livelihood of the island by employment generation, industrialisation and flourishing the tourism industry.
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Addressing the function, power secretary Habibur Rahman said the government has been promoting renewable energy as it will lead the future energy sources.
He said renewable energy is being supported as part of the government commitment towards “Transition to Green Energy”.
The Monpura hybrid plant is unique as it will have a combination of battery and diesel-run generator. “But power generation from diesel-run generators will not cross a 10 per cent limit”, he added.
He said it would have been easier to deal with the current electricity supply situation if the country would get more electricity from renewable energy sources.
He hoped that the consumers in Monpura Island would get grid-standard electricity from the plant.
The function was also addressed by Md Mahbubur Rahman, chairman of Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), WZPDC chairman Selim Abed, former chairman of Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (Sreda) chairman Mohammad Alauddin, WZPDC managing director Azharul Islam and project director Md Matiur Rahman.